We race towards the Father.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."

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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Do Hard Things Tour 2010 - Part 1

"Most people don't expect you to understand what we're going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don't expect you to care. And even if you care, they don't expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don't expect it to last." - Alex and Brett Harris

Some of you may know that the Harris twins, Brett and Alex founded the Rebelution. The Rebelution is a teenage movement/idea that is about rebelling against the low expectations of teenagers. The Harris' came to Nashville and did a conference for teens about doing hard things for the glory of God. I was there. It was good. :D

I've already read Do Hard Things the book. The conference was just a shorter version of it, but still so very inspiring. (Btw, visit their website or read the book. It'll will tell you how Alex and Brett were vessels in the Lord's hands to starting this movement, and what we can do to be a part of it.)

Once again, I am going to condense all the notes I took into an understandably-helpful-I-doubt-it piece of writing. L0l.

In today's world, it's easy to be considered a 'good' kid. We make our beds in the morning, eat good, have good hygiene, smile now-and-then, and won't settle for grades lower than 70% and everyone calls us a good kid....We'll come back to this...

What is a teenager exactly? Well, the first time the word teenager was used was in Readers Digest in 1941. Our culture hasn't always had teenagers. It used to be just adults and children. This is what brings us to the myth of adolescence. People have developed this mind set that when you are a teenager or young adult that it is your time to party and have fun until 'real life' begins. Therefore people have started expecting less and less of teenagers. In fact, they expect us to have pre-marital sex, do drugs and drink, and be disrespectful. It's expected of us. Unfortunately, it's our reputation.

It wasn't always like this...

There once was a kid named George. At age twelve George fought in the war of 1812. After a victorious battle in that war he was commanded captain over a ship that he was to direct safely home. George was twelve.

Why is this so unbelievable? Why do we say, "Oh! Man! That's insane!" Is it because we have twelve year olds in our life that can't sweep the kitchen properly (Or worse, are we an 14, 15, 19, 25 year old that can't sweep the kitchen properly?)?

Rewinding a little bit; it used to be children and adults. Now it's children, teenagers and adults. So, guess what happened? All of a sudden there is this group of people that demands entertainment. We aren't children but we aren't expected to be adults yet. We've all heard this, "These are the best years of our lives. Just have fun while you can." Now we have a culture that revolves around teens. Style, movies, food, games....

The elephant proves a wonderful example for this. Elephants are HUGE, STRONG creatures. They pull trees out of the ground. Annually in some-other-country-I-can't-remember-where they have tug of war contests with elephants. Elephant versus 100 able men. Guess what? The elephant wins every time.

"I've always wondered what they did with these creatures at night." Alex said, "Nothing could hold them back, if they got an urge to go visit an Uncle." He then told us that the people who keep elephants for labor found an easy way to do it. With a wooden post and twine. HUH? When the elephants are little, they bind their right hind leg to a tree with a strong chain. The little elephants will tug and tug, trying to get away from the tree until that chain cuts their flesh. Sometimes right to the bone. Over time, the little elephants just stop trying to get away and accept the fact that they cannot move. So eventually, they could replace the tree with a wooden pole and the chain with a rope. Once those babies are grown up, they will stop doing anything the moment they feel the slightest tug on their right hind leg. Their bodies weren't shackled. Their minds were shackled.

This is the myth of adolescence. We are expected not to do things. So we drop to the expectations people hold for us. So our minds are shackled by nothing more than a wooden post and rope.

Au contraire...

1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

"Let no one despise your youth..." We need to rebel against the low expectations people have of us. I don't know about you guys but I have heard people talk smack about teens and it is heart-wrenching! We used to be respected persons in the USA. We used to be people that would use our brains and steer our culture for the better. Let no one despise your youth! We are still capable of those types of things.

"But be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity..." It doesn't end at "Don't let people despise your youth." But be an example. How do we do that? How should we be examples in a world where people don't expect us to care? By doing hard things.Dun....dun....dun.....